Machine for blending wool



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July 28, 195s J. D. TowNsEND 2,646,597

MACHINE FOR BLENDING WOOL Filed Feb. 4, 1945 Patent'ecl `uly 28, y1953OFFICE Y MACHINE FOR BLENDING WOUL Jack Dunbar Townsend, VLowry Bay,

New Zealand y Application February 4, 1948, Serial No. 6,312

In New Zealand January 24, 1947 9 Claims.

The invention relates to machines for performing the operation of whatis commonly re-l ferred to' as the blending of wool, for thepurpose pfenhancing the commercial value of same, and which consists in openingout the wool and ensuring the intimate mixing of the constituent fibresof portions of varying shades or colours so as to give the wool a moreor less uniform appearance throughout, with portions thereof of lessdesirable appearance so distributed through the wool that the latter inbulk is of improved appearance.

Known machines provided for the aforesaid purpose comprise rotary drumswith rows of teeth thereon, operating over grids, the Wool tov be dealtwith being fed between Vfluted feed rollers from which the wool passesto the toothed drums and is acted upon solely by the teeth thereof whilepassing from the feed rollers, which are fixed as regards distance fromthe drums, and which give rise to the objection that all vwools ofvarying lengths of staple are not able to be successfully dealt with bythe same'machine.

The object of the invention is to provide improvements in the aforesaidtype of machine, so as to enable one machine to successfully deal withwools of varying lengths of staple, irrespective of whether the blendingis to be performed (o1. isa-'96) by the opening out and intimate mixingof difl Y ferent portions of the same wool or of different vwools.

A wool blending machine provided with the improvements comprising theinvention, incorporates one or a plurality of toothed drums, adapted tooperate over grids and in conjunction with feed rollers, and ischaracterised by the provisions of means, capable of being adjustedtowards or from the drum teeth in accordance with the length of stapleofthe wool under treatment, for the purpose of retarding` the Woolagainst the action of the drum teeth.

In one instance, the Wool retarding means can comprise feed rollerscapable of being adjusted 'towards or from the drum teeth, and inanother instance, said wool retarding means can comprise stationaryteeth, capable of being adjusted towards or from the drum teeth.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the aD- plication of theimprovements to a Wool blending Figure 2 is a plan View of same withth'ecovers i..

removed, while Figures 3 and 4 are detail views illustrating thev formr4and arrangement of the drum teeth. and the stationary teeth, and

Figures 5 and 6 are detail views of the mechanismY for raising andlowering the grid frame inl order to obtain adjustment of the stationaryteeth. Y

As illustrated, the machine comprises a main frame I having mountedthereon by means of cross shafts 2 Vand bearings 3, a primary drum 4 anda secondary drum 5, adapted to be rotated in the direction indicated bythe arrows in Figure 1,1by belt drives applied to pulleys 6 on theshafts 2.

. Each drum 4 and 5 has secured to and spaced equi-distantly around itsperiphery, rows of teeth I shaped as illustrated in Figure 3,'the numberof rows of teeth on drum 5 differing from the number of rows on theother drum, so as to insure more effective blending of the wool.

The drums 4 and 5 are finely balanced and are machined perfectly true attheir peripheries, the teeth 1 on each and both drums being in perfectalignment through the length of the machine and beingv designed to avoiddamaging the wool.

, Fluted feed rollers 8 disposed one aboveA the other are providedadjacent the primary drum 4 at the feed end of the machine, the bearingsfor the upper roller 8 being adjustable in the lsame housing 9 as thebearings for vthe lower roller 8, and being maintained in contact withthelatter by spring means in conventional manner, such arrangement andmounting of the feed rollers allowing for rise and fall of the upperroller 8 to suit the quantity of wool going through the rollers 3 to thedrum 4.

The feed rollers are driven througha crossed belt reduction drive I0from the shaft 2 ofthe primary drum 4, and reduction chain drives II,tothe shaft of the lower roller 8.

Wool to be processed by the machine, is delivered to the feed rollers 8,by an endless conveyor I2, made to pass around rollers I3, which withthe housings 9 for the bearings of the feed rollers 8, are mounted on asecondary frame I4 slidable on the main frame I towards or from vtheprimary drum 4. j Ihe endless conveyor I2 can be of any suitable form,`its front: roller I3 being driven through a chain drive I5 from theopposite end of the shaft of the lower feed roller 8 to which the driveI I is applied.`

The location of the front roller I3 of the con- 'veyor I2 as regardsclearance from the feed rollers 8, to suit the type of conveyor I2 beingused, is capable of adjustment by screw adjusting means at I6, Whilesimilar adjusting means can be provided at I1 to tension the conveyor I2as required, while undue sagging of the upper side of the conveyor I2can be prevented by means of a rigid spreader plate support.

The feed rollers Bare capable of being adjusted towards or from thetoothed primary drum 4, to provide for the treatment of wools havingstaples of varying lengths, by the teeth T of the drum 4. while thewools are still gripped by ,and as they pass between the feed roller 8,by sliding the frame I4 on the main frame I, screw locking means I8being provided between the frame Il and the frame I, to maintain theformer in a selected position on the latter, and as the rollers I3 andhousings 9 are al1 mounted on the frame I4, the relationship of theconveyor I2 to the feed rollers 8, and the tensioning of the conveyorI2, are not affected by alteration of the location of the rollers 8 inrelation to the Adrum 4.

The provision of feed rollers 8 adjustable as aforesaid, enables aconsiderable range of wools of long and comparatively short staples tobe suc.- cessfully dealt with, but where the wool staple `is so shortthat even with the feed rollers B adjustable as aforesaid, the desiredtreatment can not be effected, provision is made for the opening out andmiXing of the wool portions or Wools, to be erformed between the teeth'I .of the drums 4 and and other teeth I9 held stationary during theoperation of the drums 4, 5.

As previously mentioned, the teeth 'I on th drums il, 5 are in rowsthereon, and the stationary teeth I9 are also in rows, the latter beingpositioned and held, and the teeth I9 thereof so spaced, that the teeth'I of the drums d, 5 pass between them, the spaces between the movingteeth 'i and the stationary teeth I9 being such that the wool isthoroughly dealt with to effect the blending without detriment thereto.

Provision is made for adjusting the stationary teeth towards or from thedrums 4 .5 to suit different lengths of wool, or .to so position VSaidstationary teeth I9 that they will take no part in the operations-ras,for instance, where the wool is wholly dealt with by the teeth l on thedrum 4, while gripped by the feed rollers 8..

One or more toothed rotary .drums can be employed, and there may be oneor more rows of sta-.- tionary teeth I9 in relation to each drum, saidlast mentioned rows being mounted on a frame and spaced about theperipheries of the'drums 4,5.

The frame 26 is adjustable vertically in the frame i to bring the teethI9 into the desired relationship with the teeth I of the drums 4, 5, orto cause the teeth IS to be lowered completely c-lear of the teeth 1.Vertical adjusting screws 2I held in brackets 22 on the frame I areoperated through nuts 23 secured on brackets .24 ofthe frame 2e. Thescrews 2I are geared together ,by .bev-el gearing 25 and shafts 25 onboth sides of :the frame I. All the screws 2| can be operatedsimultaneously from a single 4operating point von cross shaft 21vwhichisoperably connected to each shaft 26 to raise or lower the frame 20,evenly.

Locking bolts 28 provided on the frame 2U and adapted to operate invertical slots 2Q in vertical members of the frame I, provide means forsecuring the frame 25 with the teeth I 9 thereon in a selected position,and also for limiting movement of the framei2IJ. Y

.Grids comprising a grating made up of a plurality of parallel barsindicated at 30 areprovided on the frame 20 between the rows of teeth I9and at the sides of the latter to conform to the contour of the drums,said grids 30 being of any suitable formation and being interchangeableas required, the provision of the grids allowing loose dirt and foreignmatter removed from the Wool, to be disposed of, and so avoid Same ndingits way later into the scouring liquor.

The machine can be provided with a conveyor for discharging blended woolfrom the machine, `and, with necessary casing, guards, control means andother parts essential for its operation.

What I do claim and desire to obtain by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates of America is:

1. A wool blending machine including a. main fi-ame., at least one drumrotatably mounted on the frame, rows of teeth carried by the drum,another frame mounted for vertical movement in the main frame andpositioned beneath the drum, spaced vrows of stationary teeth supprtedO11 the last mentioned frame and adjustable therewith for kcoasting withthe teeth on the drum, grids On opposite sides of the rows 0f teeth onthe last mentioned frame, and means for adjusting said last mentionedframe including a plurality of screws and means gearing the screwstogether for simultaneous operation.

2. A wool blending machine including a main frame.l at least onerotatable drum 0n the frame, another fra-me mounted on the main frameand adjustable vertically with respect to the main frame and includingspaced grids ,arranged adjacent the periphery of the drum, woolretarding means comprising cooperating rows of teeth, respectively onthe periphery of the drum and on the last mentioned frame between thegrids, an additional frame'laterally slidably mounted on said main framein advance of said drum, adjustable feed rollers carried at the end ofsaid latter frame adjacent the drum and adjustable conveyine meanscarried by said latter frame outwardly of said feed rollers.

3. A Wool blending machine including a main frame, at least onerotatable drum on `said frame, another frame mounted .on the main trameand adjustable vertically with respect to .the main frame and includingspaced grids arranged adjaent the periphery of the drum, wool .retardnsmeans comprising cooperating rows of teeth, respectively on theperiphery of the drum and on the last mentioned frame between the grids,means for raising vand lowering the movable frame including spacedbrackets mounted ,on both .sides of both frames, vertically disposed.screws mounted in the brackets .on .the main .frame .and adiustablyengaged with the brackets on the movable frame, a drive shaft journaledin the brackets on both Vsides of the main frame, and intermeshng gearscarried by the shafts and the respective screws so that when the shaftsare rotated `the .screws will be rotated to correspondingly raise .erlower the lmovable frame,

4. A wool blending machine including a main frame, at least one toothed.drum rotatably mounted on the main frame, a secondary frame slidablelongitudinally .on .the top .of the main frame in advance .of the drum,.supcrposed `feed rollers mounted at the inner end of `secondary framefor cooperating with the toothed drum, ya horizontauy disposed endlessfeeding ,conveyor mounted .on the secondary frame, longitudinally spacedrollers supporting the conveyor, independent screw means .on thesecondary frame for adjusting each supporting roller for the Conveyorjust the feed rouers relative to the drum without disturbing theadjustment of the conveyor relative to the feed rollers or the tensionof the conveyor.

5. A wool blending machine as claimed in claim 4 in which another frameis vertically slidably mounted in the main frame beneath the drum,spaced grids carried at the top of said drum positioned in closelyspaced relation to the other frame and spaced rows of teeth carried bysaid other frame and positioned between the grids for cooperating withthe teeth on the drum.

6. A wool blending machine including a main frame, spaced toothed drumsrotatably mounted thereon, a secondary frame slidably mounted on the topof the main frame in advance of the main drum, superposed feed rollersmounted at the inner end of the secondary frame for cooperating with theteeth on the adjacent drum, an endless conveyor mounted on the secondaryframe, means on the secondary frame for adjusting the conveyor withrelation to the feed rollers, means on the secondary frame fortensioning the conveyor, screw adjusting and locking means providedbetween the secondary frame and the main frame, a third frame mountedfor vertical sliding movement beneath the drums, spaced grids carried bythe top of the last mentioned frame and disposed in closely spacedrelation to the lower peripheries of the drums, and rows of stationaryteeth carried by the last mentioned frame and positioned between thegrids for cooperating with the teeth on the drums and positioned so thatthe teeth on the drums will pass therebetween.

7. A wool blending machine as claimed in claim 6 in which the teeth onthe drums are arranged in rows extending across and spaced around thedrums, the teeth of said drums being in alignment through the length ofthe machine and the number of rows of teeth on one drum being differentthan the number of rows of teeth on the other drum.

8. A wool blending machine including a main frame, at least one tootheddrum rotatably mounted on the main frame, a secondary frame slidablelongitudinally on the top of the main frame in advance of the drum,superposed feed rollers mounted at the inner end of the secondary framefor cooperating with the toothed drum, a horizontally disposed endlessfeeding conveyor mounted on the secondary frame, longitudinally spacedrollers for supporting the conveyor and about which the same passes,independent screw means carried by the secondary frame for adjustingeach supporting roller for the conveyor relative to the feed rollers toadjust the position of the conveyor relative to the feed rollers and totension the conveyor, screw adjusting and locking means provided betweenthe secondary frame and the main frame for moving the secondary framerelative to the main frame to adjust the feed rollers relative to thedrum without disturbing the adjustment of the conveyor relative to thefeed rollers or the tension of the conveyor, an additional framevertically slidably mounted on the main frame beneath the drum, spacedgrids carried at the top of said additional frame and conforming to thecontour of the drum, spaced rows of teeth carried by said additionalframe and positioned between the grids thereon for cooperating with theteeth on the drum, and means for synchronously operating the feedrollers from the rotary drum.

9. A wool blending machine as dened in and by claim 8 and in which thesaid additional frame is vertically movably connected with the mainframe at a plurality of points, vertical screws at each point and meansfor gearing the screws together for simultaneous operation to move theadditional frame and the stationary teeth carried thereby toward or fromthe drum for retarding wool against the action of the drum teeth.

JACK DUNBAR TOWNSEND.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Re. 16,449 Von Osten Oct. 26, 1926 70,987 Frey Nov. 19, 1867767,788 Barbour Aug. 16, 1904 2,305,639 Rockwell Dec. 22, 1942 2,331,943Von Osten Oct. 19, 1943 2,345,988 Ockrant Apr. 4, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 24,122 Australia Dec. 12, 1929 507,086 Great BritainJune 9, 1939 642,004 France May 1, 1928

